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Hi, I bought a house which I renovated.
I stripped out all wiring, all of it.
new fuse board, 2 rcd, which I set as up stairs and down stairs. I’ve a ring for; sockets up, sockets down, kitchen white goods, kitchen sockets, lights up, lights down and a single cable to the boiler, one to the loft socket and one to the hob. All works no issues. I did work in the garden and had to move the earth rod i had installed. When disconnecting it I got quite a shock. I put the volt meter across it and got 135V ac. So I refitted the rod. Then disconnected it at the fuse board so I could put the volt meter between the rod and the each earth on the board. I got 2V from most but some read 45V, 90V, 50V & 90V (upstairs lights, downstairs lights, white goods, and hob) I killed the board while I reconnected everything then did a last check and now get a steady 35V to the earth rod after it was all off for 5mins. I understand you can have some earth leakage from some appliances but surely something is amis here? I had initially assumed it was a screw through a cable somewhere but it’s coming from 4 different circuits.
Any advice?
 

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Hi, I bought a house which I renovated.
I stripped out all wiring, all of it.
new fuse board, 2 rcd, which I set as up stairs and down stairs. I’ve a ring for; sockets up, sockets down, kitchen white goods, kitchen sockets, lights up, lights down and a single cable to the boiler, one to the loft socket and one to the hob. All works no issues. I did work in the garden and had to move the earth rod i had installed. When disconnecting it I got quite a shock. I put the volt meter across it and got 135V ac. So I refitted the rod. Then disconnected it at the fuse board so I could put the volt meter between the rod and the each earth on the board. I got 2V from most but some read 45V, 90V, 50V & 90V (upstairs lights, downstairs lights, white goods, and hob) I killed the board while I reconnected everything then did a last check and now get a steady 35V to the earth rod after it was all off for 5mins. I understand you can have some earth leakage from some appliances but surely something is amis here? I had initially assumed it was a screw through a cable somewhere but it’s coming from 4 different circuits.
Any advice?
That's one seriously dangerous CU (Fuseboard) you have there Mate!
 
Someone's gotta ask it.... What testing did you do on your new install, apart from the fact that it works?

Also, what are you getting this voltage between? The disconnected rod and the installation earthing?
 
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As in #4 only Registered Electrical Contractors can carry out the work you have described. To be honest I am surprised you are still alive.
 
Someone's gotta ask it.... What testing did you do on your new install, apart from the fact that it woks?

I don't know why I bothered to ask, no one ever answers a question.
No as of yet it is not tested, I was waiting to get my cousin over to test it but hey recent pandemic kinda delayed that a few months.

All i want to know is what would be causing voltage to my earth? I've identified it on 4 circuits, both lighting rings, the white goods ring and the hob, which is a straight cable from the board to the hob.
 
Someone's gotta ask it.... What testing did you do on your new install, apart from the fact that it works?

Also, what are you getting this voltage between? The disconnected rod and the installation earthing?

I disconnected the earth rod at the board so i could put the volt meter across from the earths in the board (live) to the rod (neutral)
[automerge]1598360157[/automerge]
For one bare busbar two Busbar not fitted correctly
bus bars are not bare, I dropped the shroud for the picture.
 
I disconnected the earth rod at the board so i could put the volt meter across from the earths in the board (live) to the rod (neutral)
[automerge]1598360157[/automerge]

bus bars are not bare, I dropped the shroud for the picture.
OK But if the power is on it's still dangerous
 
To answer the question,
No there shouldn't be that voltage onto the rod.
There's a fault withint the electrical installation that needs finding and fixing.
Untill then turn everthing off.

I appreciate you actual answer, I've identified faults in other properties in the past but I've not seen faults that change around like this making it hard to isolate a single damaged cable.
[automerge]1598360677[/automerge]
OK But if the power is on it's still dangerous

I only disconnected while i tested between each individual earth to the board so i could identify the fault source. i then reconnected so as to have earth protection. note the RCD's don't trip with the faults.
 
Without proper inspection and testing we cannot say why's there's voltage going to earth on your installation, there could be numerous reasons from appliance leakage to a neutral fault on the supply line. Remote diagnosis over the internet is next to impossible.

This is why we test before energising an installation.

Also we isolate the supply before removing the main earth as there's potential for voltage on the earth cable and risk of electric shock as you have found.

I would suggest you get your cousin to come over sooner rather than later to take a look assuming they're a registered electrician?
 
Hi, I bought a house which I renovated.
I stripped out all wiring, all of it.
new fuse board, 2 rcd, which I set as up stairs and down stairs. I’ve a ring for; sockets up, sockets down, kitchen white goods, kitchen sockets, lights up, lights down and a single cable to the boiler, one to the loft socket and one to the hob. All works no issues. I did work in the garden and had to move the earth rod i had installed. When disconnecting it I got quite a shock. I put the volt meter across it and got 135V ac. So I refitted the rod. Then disconnected it at the fuse board so I could put the volt meter between the rod and the each earth on the board. I got 2V from most but some read 45V, 90V, 50V & 90V (upstairs lights, downstairs lights, white goods, and hob) I killed the board while I reconnected everything then did a last check and now get a steady 35V to the earth rod after it was all off for 5mins. I understand you can have some earth leakage from some appliances but surely something is amis here? I had initially assumed it was a screw through a cable somewhere but it’s coming from 4 different circuits.
Any advice?
i hate spagetti, (and pasta, paella, fish, and mayonaise). your pic only qualifies for the first.
 
All i want to know is what would be causing voltage to my earth? I've identified it on 4 circuits, both lighting rings, the white goods ring and the hob, which is a straight cable from the board to the hob.

Disconnecting any earth from an energised installation is a very dangerous thing to do, and will often result in apparently random voltages between the disconnected parts even in a perfectly safe installation.

Why on earth are the lighting circuits wired as a ring?

Instead of performing dangerous, and quite meaningless, tests that don't follow a logical fault finding process you should be testing in a logical manner.

First you need to establish whether or not there is actually anything wrong.
Measureing IR and earth leakage might help with this. Also assessing the loads for what earth leakage you might normally expect might help.
 
Without proper inspection and testing we cannot say why's there's voltage going to earth on your installation, there could be numerous reasons from appliance leakage to a neutral fault on the supply line. Remote diagnosis over the internet is next to impossible.

This is why we test before energising an installation.

Also we isolate the supply before removing the main earth as there's potential for voltage on the earth cable and risk of electric shock as you have found.

I would suggest you get your cousin to come over sooner rather than later to take a look assuming they're a registered electrician?

I appreciate the impossibility of remote diagnosis, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas on what to check or look for, any common issues etc.

When i briefly disconnected the rod outside i was just moving it over while i had an excavator to pull it up. I hadn't anticipated there to be any voltage there or i would have cut it turned it off first. I then disconnected it at the board and turned the power on briefly while I put the volt meter across each earth individually. Then immediately reconnected
 
I appreciate the impossibility of remote diagnosis, I was just wondering if anyone had any ideas on what to check or look for, any common issues etc.

When i briefly disconnected the rod outside i was just moving it over while i had an excavator to pull it up. I hadn't anticipated there to be any voltage there or i would have cut it turned it off first. I then disconnected it at the board and turned the power on briefly while I put the volt meter across each earth individually. Then immediately reconnected
Across each earth and what exactly
 

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